


The Heart is Deceitful

by karrenia_rune



Category: Gargoyles (TV)
Genre: Community: fanfic100, Gen, Minor Canonical Character(s), Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-22
Updated: 2014-07-22
Packaged: 2018-02-09 22:20:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2000082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karrenia_rune/pseuds/karrenia_rune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It began with an attempt to get more information/ pick up the trail of his true quarry in the generational cat and mouse hunt between<br/>Huntsman and the gargoyle known as Demona, but what John Canmore had not expected is that he would fall for the younger Maza daughter, or that she might be falling for him in turn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Heart is Deceitful

Title: The Heart is Decietful  
Fandom: Gargoyles, general series  
Author: karrenia  
Characters: Beth Maza and John Canmore  
Disclaimer: Gargoyles belongs to Disney and Bunea Vista Television; they are not mine.  
Words: 1,248

"The Heart is Deceitful" by Karen

Beth Maza had always thought of herself as a practical woman, certainly one willing to take a risk or two but not without thinking it through prior to making a commitment. Beth Maza, a sophomore at Flagstaff University in Arizona majoring in chemistry, is certainly not naive in her own assurance and the fact that there are things out there in the bigger world beyond the walls of academia that would confound the hard and fast rules found in her textbooks. 

After all, she knew about the existence of modern-day gargoyles living in the heart of downtown Manhattan, but that is her sister Elisa's bailiwick. 

Her sister's friendship and mutual pact of alliance with those same 'angels of the night' led to one brief encounter with those who motives she had had no illusions about that. She thought back to that rather surreal night and thought about calling her father as she got inside and made some mac and cheese for dinner prior to setting in for a night of cramming for her mid-term exams. 

On the heels of that thought Beth recalled how multi-billionarie David Xanatos or at least his robotic counterpart serving as a proxy had tried some hair-brained scheme to tap into the supernatural power of the legendary Native American spirit of the trickster, Coyote. 

Beth paused at the entrance to her dorm apartment, her duffel bag slung casually over her left shoulder, bent over in an awkward position while she fumbled to reach her room keys nestled in the side pocket of her denim jeans. 

John Canmore, now calling himself Nathan Cartwright, not his real name strode down the hallway from the elevator at the far end. It had been a lucky break in his personal quest to discover that Detective Beth Maza had a younger sister, a co-ed at a big public university. 

, In the long run, the Mazas would only be a small factor but an important one.

His true family may have denied their birthright, a legacy that spanned ten centuries, but not John Canmore. On a hook behind an innocuous-looking bland poster of a boy band, he had never heard of. Growing up in the Canmore household left scant time for the two boys to enjoy much in the way of idle past-times; is a red and black stripped mask, the mask that marked him as a Hunter, specifically of the gargoyles. 

His quarry, the gargoyle was known as Demona, may have eluded him for the  
the moment, but he was determined to pick up the trail no matter where it might lead.

With that in mind he walked over and quite casually offered to hold Beth's backpack for her while she got her door open.

"What are you doing here?" asked Beth her voice a bit fuzzy and ragged around the edges from lack of sleep and too many late hours put in at the campus library. She had a big mid-term for her world history class and had needed to get in more time to cram for it.

"Beth, I was just passing by and I thought that you might need some help to study for that mid-term."

"Not tonight, the only appointment I have to keep right now is with my pillow." 

"Sure, no problem," he replied. "But if you need anything, give me a call, I'm in room #332, on the left."

"I'll think about it." 

He nodded and said goodnight, giving Beth a quick peck on the check.

He knew that his feelings for her should be as genuine as he could  
possibly make them, enough to gain her confidence and her trust, whether or not she returned his feelings in kind would have to be more or less irrelevant, but mixing business with pleasure, had become more and more difficult of late. 

Beth was a remarkable woman, and if he had not had another agenda in mind, and he was not who he was, a Canmore than maybe they might have had something real. John shook his head, turning his back to her closed door and walked down the hallway ignoring the curious looks of the other dorm residents as he passed by them.

Late the next day, after class, John invited Beth to a picnic lunch on the quadrangle. He had spread the red and white chequered plastic cloth on the grass. Beth arrived dressed in jeans and a matching denim shirt, her black hair bound up in a red cloth band. 

"Hi, Nathan," Beth smiled.

"Beth, I'm glad you could make it. I wasn't sure what you would like to eat, so I went with a little of everything."

"Surprise me," she replied.

He sat down and reached over to take the lid off a blue plastic cooler, removing several white plastic Tupperware, and plastic plates, spoons, forks, and knives.

"Do you need any help getting the spread ready?"

"Sure, knock yourself out," he replied.

"Potato salad? Always a crowd pleaser," Beth grinned.

"We don't stand on ceremony around here, go ahead and start eating." he returned the smile. 

As they ate they found that when they reached for the salad or the plate of hot dogs, or the condiments at the same time, their hands would brush, Beth would blush which turned her dusky brown skin a shade darker, and something he had never noticed before. It also brought out the light dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose. 

For the first time since John had conceived this plan, to gain the trust of Elisa Maza's sister and once he had her trust, then would pump her for every bit of knowledge that she might have had on gargoyles.

One factor never played into his plan: he had never planned to fall in love. Not only was it damned inconvenient, it also changed the complexion of his ultimate goal;

Could use her this way, to achieve his plan, tap for every bit of information that she might possess on knowledge of gargoyles and the whereabouts of the gargoyle, Demona?

John shook his head, his blond hair falling forward to get into his eyes. "Nathan, your hair needs cutting, I can do it for if you like. When my sister and were little, we used to play a game called Truth or Dare. I was better at it than my older sister."

"What?

"I said, you need a haircut, and I can do it for you."

"I guess so," he muttered under his breath, wondering for the first time how he had managed to lose his razor-sharp concentration and control of the situation so quickly. 

"You seem pretty distracted, Nathan, I think the sun here in Arizona might be a little too much for that fair-skinned complexion of yours. Why, you're turning as red as a lobster."

"Can I kiss you?" he gasped, wondering if he had lost his mind. 'Love really is not logical,.' John Canmore thought to himself and then shoved the errant thought to a back corner of his mind. He bent forward and brushed his hair back from his eyes.

Beth laughed, tilting her head up and offering her lips to be kissed. "Yes, but you know, we're moving a little fast, you do this all wrong and I'll never forgive you for it."

"Are you kidding me?" he said tensely.

"More or less." She smiled.

He leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips against hers, gripping her shoulders gently but firmly. They stood that way for a long time.


End file.
